County council reviews budget, tax increase

MEDIA -- Two county residents voiced concerns about the 2013 county budget, which includes a 2.8 percent tax hike, during a public hearing Thursday night.

"You do a great job as a Delaware County Council," said Tinicum resident Zurdi Dobi. "Your building is clean. Your services are satisfactory. But our country is millions of dollars in debt. You raised taxes last year and now you're going to do it this year and I don't know if that's a good idea."

The proposed $330 million spending plan calls for a millage rate of 5.452, which is an increase of 0.15 mills or 2.8 percent, according to county officials. An average taxpayer with a home in the county assessed for tax purposes at $130,000 would therefore generate a county property tax of $708.75 -- an increase of about $19.75 over the prior year. Last year, council approved a 2.3 percent tax hike.

Swarthmore resident Lora Lavin, president of League of Women Voters of Delaware County, said Grace did a good job with the overall budget presentation, but added that it's difficult to find out some of the details of the budget.

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"I'm not here disputing the overall budget and tax increase," she said.

About six residents total attended the hearing, which lasted about an hour. Dobi and Lavin were the only two to address council.

Grace said the two largest cost drivers in the budget are the 911 Center and the county-owned Fair Acres Geriatric Center in Middletown. Another cost driver is administration of justice, which makes up about 40 percent of the budget, she said.

The county is anticipating a $6 million shortfall in the 911 funding next year and a $7.1 million shortfall in Fair Acres funding, county officials said.

With regard to 911 funding issues, there is a $1 monthly reimbursement fee for every landline and every cellphone line; however, the county does not always receive the entire amount of cellphone line reimbursements, according to county officials. While the fees for landline phones come directly back to the county, cellphone fees are sent to a fund set up at the state level and then distributed back to counties. In addition, the amount of landline customers has decreased significantly in recent years because more people have relied on cellphones.

Under current state regulations, county nursing home rates are based on audited costs from the years 2000 through 2002, with a flat percentage applied each year to account for inflation, according to Grace.

"The annual rate adjustments by the state have been well-below what the county needs to operate its nursing home facility and as a result, this substantial funding gap must be covered by county general fund dollars," she wrote in her budget memo to council last month.

About half of the county's estimated 3,100 employees are in unions, which have a 2 percent raise built into their contracts. Grace said the budget includes a placeholder for 2 percent salary increases for all employees. It's ultimately up to council to approve those raises.

Council Vice Chairman Mario Civera said, "The rank-and-file (employees do) not make a lot of money."

Councilman Dave White said council is committed to Fair Acres and the 900 residents there.

"Fair Acres is the gem of Delaware County and we're going to keep that gem," he said.

All department heads were asked to decrease their budgets by 5 percent.

Councilman John McBlain praised a $250,000 reduction in court system spending. He said there were also significant savings in the prison budget because new legislation allowed the county to negotiate its contract with Community Education Centers, which requires the private company to pick up medical costs for inmates. Community Education Centers is a private New Jersey-based company that has operated the county prison since 2009.

Morrone said the county hopes to work with local legislators in order fix the reimbursement issues for the 911 Center and Fair Acres. She said council would focus on reducing health benefit costs and has plans to roll out "wellness" program for employees.

County Solicitor Michael Maddren presented council with the first reading of the 2013 budget ordinance at Wednesday's meeting. The second reading and vote on the final adoption of the budget is slated for county council's Dec. 12 meeting.